Proposals
by violet.lr90
Summary: Little story that explores three different moments in Neville and Ginny friendship. Two after the final war and one before. How Neville asked her to go to the Yule Ball? Read it for more. Missing moment. Harry/Ginny, Neville/Hannah and other characters are included.


Author notes: Hello everyone. This is one of mine old Italian story translated in English. I'm always wondered how was the friendship between Neville and Ginny, so I wrote this FF about it. The couples Harry/Ginny and Neville/Hannah are included.

* * *

 **Proposals**

"Are you happy, Ginny?" Harry asked her that morning while they were still under the sheets, the sun's rays already filtering through the curtain. She had turned and kissed him gently while he moved a strand of hair from her face with one hand.

"How could I not be? I'm over the moon."

"Really? Even though the proposal didn't go exactly as I hoped?"

"Especially for that because it made it unique." Harry smiled, and afterward, they kissed again more passionately, and in a moment, they made love for the second time. When Ginny finally decided to get out of bed at 11.00, she said,

"Do you mind if I go to Hogsmeade? I was thinking of going there for lunch." Harry knew instantly, what she wanted to do.

"Not at all. Go. I'll pop over to the office to see if everything's okay."

* * *

About thirty minutes later, Ginny had just apparition in front of the Three Broomsticks, where Neville lived. Three years earlier the boy had become the assistant of Professor Sprout at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even though the school had offered him accommodation in the castle, he had declined so he could live in the village. While looking for a house, Neville discovered that the new owner of the Three Broomsticks, Hannah Abbott, rented a room in the apartment above the restaurant where she lived. Although at first she was reluctant to rent the room to a man, eventually she accepted. Six months after Neville moved there, Hannah put the room up for rent again, because well, he definitely preferred to sleep in another part of the house. Ginny entered the pub and looked around. Since it was lunchtime, the place was rather crowded. Walking up to the counter, the girl smiled at the sight of her best friend, his arm around Hannah's waist, intently whispering something in her ear.

"Hey lovebirds," said Ginny as she walked up to them.

"Ginny, it's good to see you," Neville said immediately, and Hannah greeted her too. "What brings you here?"

"Well ... I was just passing by ... and I wanted to share the news with my best friend," Ginny replied, intentionally putting her right hand on the counter. Hannah soon noticed the huge diamond she wore on her finger, nudged Neville and pointed at it.

"Oh my God!" He exclaimed, and he jumped over the counter to hug her. "Harry asked you. And what did you tell him?"

"What a stupid question Neville!" Hannah exclaimed, shaking her head. "Obviously she said yes. Congratulations Ginny."

"Thanks, Hannah."

"I'm so happy for you. Come on, let's sit down at a table, I want you to tell me all the details. Don't you mind honey?"

"The less you're behind the bar, the better the chances that nothing spills," she answered, making fun of him. Neville stick out his tongue while Ginny burst into laughter. The two sat down on one of the three free tables, and the Redhead began her story. They had been talking for more than an hour because the story of Harry hiding the ring in a snitch and then not being able to open it was pretty funny.

"Are you saying that I'm the first person you told?" He asked though he wasn't surprised and was smiling.

"Of course you're the first Nev. You and Luna are my best friends, and I'm so sorry that Luna is away and will be one of the last to know." Obviously, after them, she was going to tell Hermione, although being a friend of Harry, she probably knew already. For a moment, Ginny felt a little sad at the idea that another close friend Colin would never know, as well as her broth ... she immediately drove away the thought from her mind. She didn't want to think about it.

"Luna is still in Egypt, right?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, I think so. The last letter I received from her came from there."

"Yeah, mine too. I'm really happy for you. This is an important step. You know sometimes it seems like yesterday that we met, but we've come a long way since then ... Do you remember our first meeting? Well, not the one on the train; I mean the first one where we had a real conversation," He asked.

"Yes of course. I remember it perfectly." I'll never forget it ...

* * *

 **\- Flashback. (A few years earlier) -**

"Graphorn," said Neville.

"No," Said Mrs. Fat, shaking her head vigorously.

"What do you mean no?" He asked, stupefied.

"There's a new password."

"But this afternoon, that was the password!" exclaimed Neville.

"Yes, this afternoon. It was changed a few hours ago."

"Come on, couldn't you make an exception ..."

"Don't bother," said a female voice to his left. Only then did the young man noticed a girl sitting on the ground beside the portrait. "I've been trying to convince her to let me in since I got here, but there's no chance."

"It's for your own safety," said the Fat Lady. "I'm sorry, but without the password I just can't let you in."

Neville looked again at the girl leaning against the wall. She was small, a meter 65 at most. She had red hair, a few freckles on her cheeks and eyes the colour of chocolate.

"You're Ginny, right? You're Ron's younger sister." She nodded.

"And you're Neville. The guy who always forgets the password."

"Hey, this time I remembered it!" Ginny smiled, looking at him more closely. She had often heard of Neville. They had sometimes met on the train or in the common room but had never spoken. Everyone thought he was nice but very clumsy, and in fact, that was the first impression he seemed to give of himself. Nevertheless, Ginny was sure that behind that there was much more. Certainly, there was a reason why the Sorting Hat had decided to place him in Gryffindor.

"True, too bad they had already changed it." Resigned, Neville decided to sit next to her.

"How long have you been waiting for someone to come?" he asked.

"About 20 minutes. You know, there aren't that many people around here after 10 pm. What were you doing out at this hour?"

"I was in detention with Snape. Why were you still out?" Neville asked her.

"Because apparently there is no limit to bad luck!" she exclaimed. He looked at her quizzically, and she continued. "Today I lost 10 points because I arrived late to class. I couldn't study because all the books I needed from the library had already been taken, just like all the slices of blackberry tart at dinner, my favourite, and finally I got here and found out I don't know the new password."

"At least you didn't ask a girl to go to the Yule Ball, only to be refused."

"No, and to be honest, yesterday I even said no to a guy named Michael," she said.

"Why would you do that? You can't go to the dance without an invitation."

"I know, but first, I didn't even know who he was and secondly, he was staring at me in a strange way. Who did you invite?"

"Hermione Granger, but she told me she's already with someone else. I'm sure she made it up so she wouldn't have to come with me." Neville said disconsolately.

"You're wrong. She really is going with someone else, but I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone who it was," she added quickly. "And why would Hermione lie to you?"

"Come on, you said it yourself, right? I'm the one who forgets the password. Who wants to go to the dance with me?"

"Ah ... if you continue to be so pessimistic, definitely no one. You have a very low opinion of yourself you know."

"It's hard to have a high opinion of yourself when even your own family doesn't."

"I know what you mean. Being the only girl among seven children isn't exactly the best. My brothers, even though you may love them, have always forbidden me to do certain things, like learning to fly on a broom, because they were convinced I couldn't do it."

"I had never ridden a broom until I arrived here at school and well ... I'd better not tell you how that went."

"I flew one when I was six. I secretly stole the broom from my brother Charlie's closet, it was one of the most exciting moments of my life, almost as exciting as when I saw ..." The girl froze, suddenly becoming as red as his hair.

"When you saw Harry for the first time?" Ginny looked at him puzzled. "You know the rumours floating around."

"That's not what I was going to say," she said quickly. Neville decided not to say anything, and Ginny was so grateful that she said the next words almost without thinking:

"Come on, ask me. Ask me to go to the Yule Ball with you."

"You want ... you would come ..."

"Come on boy, didn't you hear her? Ask her!" interjected the Fat Lady.

"We're friends now, aren't we? And that's what friends do. They help you in times of need and you need to find a girl for the Yule Ball, and well ... I'm a girl Neville. So come on, ask me." Yes, Ginny was a girl. You could also see that she was starting to develop under her white...

"Neville!" she exclaimed, looking horrified. He looked up, mortified.

"Sorry Ginny. I didn't want ... I'm sorry ... do you want to come to the dance with me?"

"Yes, but we're going as friends, so avoid doing that."

"Sorry. Really, I didn't mean to," he repeated again.

"Yes, I've finally witnessed an invitation to the dance! And it's all thanks to me!" shouted the Fat Lady excitedly with her deafening voice. Ginny threw dirty looks at the picture.

"Look, someone's coming," said Neville, pointing to someone down the stairs.

"Thank goodness." The boy stood up and offered his hand to Ginny to help her do the same.

"Hey Ginny since we are friends, I can tell you."

"What?" she asked.

"I can't dance and I'm the one who ate the last slice of blackberry tart, which coincidentally is also my favourite." She smiled.

"Hello Ginny," said a girl with long light brown hair. "What are you doing out here?"

"Demelza, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. They changed the password and neither of us knows it," she explained to her dormitory companion.

"What? There is a new password? When did they change it?" asked the astonished girl. Neville shook his head in resignation. Not even the newcomer knew the new password.

"You were right Ginny. Bad luck has no limits!" said Neville, sitting down again.

"Do you know if any other Gryffindors are still around?" Demelza asked Ginny, who shook her head. Both sat resigned near Neville while a still perky Fat Lady disappeared from the painting. It was going to be a long night.

 **-End Flashback-**

* * *

It had been seven months since Ginny had given the good news to Neville. She and Harry were going to get married in less than a month, when her best friend showed up at their house. Harry and Ginny were on the sofa in each other's arms, when Neville apparition in their living room.

"Ahm ahm ... lovebirds." Hearing a voice, they jumped.

"Neville!" Harry exclaimed, breaking away from Ginny and adjusting his shirt, which was half-open.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I urgently need female advice."

"Of course. I'm going to take a shower," Harry said, getting up from the sofa and leaving the room.

"It's good to see you, but please knock next time. Don't be like Ron, one of him is enough!"

"I promise next time I'll knock."

"So what female advice do you need?" Ginny asked. Neville reached into one of the pockets of jeans, from which pulled out a little red velvet box.

"Oh my God, is that what I think it is?" she asked smiling. Neville opened it. Inside was a ring. At least three carats.

"What do you think? Do you think Hannah will like it? Maybe I should have gotten a bigger one, but you know my finances at the moment are what they are and I ..."

"Neville it's perfect. Hannah is a very lucky girl." He laughed at that phrase. The two hugged, just as there was a knock at the door.

"Are you expecting someone?" Neville asked. Ginny shook her head and went to the door. She had no idea who it might be. The happiness of the two became even greater when they opened to find a girl with long blond hair and blue eyes.

"Luna! When did you come back?" the redhead asked almost crushing her friend in a hug.

"Yesterday. And I'm going to stay for a while or at least until your wedding. I could not miss it."

"Well, you're one of my bridesmaids how could you!" Luna smiled.

"Rolf and I are thinking of staying in the house where I used to live with my father. Neville, it's so good to see you," she said, finally noticing that he was there. The two friends hugged. Ginny smiled. Neville was about to ask Hannah to marry him. Luna was back with the intention of staying, at least for the moment. She would be married in a month and a tiny creature, still very small, was growing inside her, she thought, instinctively touching her belly. Things couldn't get any better than that.


End file.
